Rebirth of an Idle Noblewoman

Panda Novel

Gu Xiqiao lowered her head, sending a text to Jiang Shuxuan—[We’re at the milk tea shop, wait for us at the intersection]

The long wind chime that hung by the entrance of the shop brushed her shoulders, and when she raised her head, she saw Hua Youlin sitting by the window. Her gaze slid from him towards the man whose back was facing her.

Her clear, black eyes narrowed.

The man was also turning around to face her, revealing a face with delicate features and a smile on his lips. He nodded at her in greeting.

Gu Xiqiao was not embarrassed at being caught staring at him, and she nodded back at him. She then walked to the cashier calmly, ordering a cup of milk tea before walking towards Hua Youlin’s direction. Jiji followed a few steps behind her, opening its chest to pull out the money that it had just won previously. It had thought to buy a cup of milk tea, but the shop was crowded today, and recalling Gu Xiqiao’s words, it lowered its head and slumped slightly.

“Sister Gu!” Hua Youlin stood up from his seat, hugging her once she reached his side. As he looked up at her, he turned slightly to look behind her, feeling relieved when he didn’t see Jiang Shuxan anywhere in sight.

Gu Xiqiao rubbed the top of his head, moving to sit on the nearby stool before turning her attention to the people who were sitting at the same table.

Hua Youlin, Luo Wenlin, Chu Ziheng, and… Xiahou Qingyun, the child that she had Yi Bing bring out from the desert.

“How did you come to be here?” Gu Xiqiao asked Xiahou Qingyun, her eyebrow raised. It looked like he knew who Chu Ziheng was.

Seeing Gu XIqiao, a flush appeared on his tanned face, admiration filling his eyes. “Sister Gu,” he said, then he quickly pointed to Chu Ziheng. “This was the big brother I was talking about last time!”

“Oh.” Gu Xiqiao nodded, poking a straw into the milk tea cup that the staff had brought over, sipping slowly.

Oh? That’s all? What did that mean?

“So you’re the ‘Miss Gu’ that Qingyun talks about so often.” Chu Ziheng held his own cup of milk tea in hand, something flashing in his dark eyes, but the smile remained on his face. “I wonder what does Miss Gu think of my proposal last night? I’ve watched both your movies, you’re really talented. Director Wang is the one in charge of directing the series that the Chu Enterprise is sponsoring, by the way.”

Director Wang was one of the most prestigious directors in all of China, and the TV series and movies that he directed were all very popular.

Jiji stood to one side, lifting its head when it heard Chu Ziheng’s words. If it could make an expression, the corners of its mouth would be twitching right now. He wanted to sponsor her to make a TV series? Has she ever been short of sponsorships? Really?

Gu Xiqiao shook her head. “Sorry, President Chu. I’m not interested.”

Chu Ziheng seemed to have anticipated her answer, and he chuckled lightly. He pulled out a business card from his pocket, pushing it towards her across the table. “Miss Gu, don’t rush and reject my offer. If you change your mind, call me anytime.”

She had wanted to refuse again, rolling her eyes, but then she reached out suddenly to pick up the card. Her fingers grazed against his cup as she did so.

“Qingyun, where are you going later?” Gu Xiqiao stood, directing her question at the boy.

Xiahou QIngyun also stood up, scratching his head. “Someone will be by to pick me up.”

“Alright.” Gu Xiqiao nodded. “Then we’ll be leaving.” Turning around, she suddenly said, “The milk tea you have doesn’t taste that bad, President Chu.”

Lifting her hand in a lazy wave, they turned and left.

The wind chime sounded once again as the door opened, and Chu Ziheng glanced at his milk tea, touching the cup with his own hands.

Xiahou Qingyun looked at the cup of milk tea with bright eyes, “Big Brother, I had wanted to ask Sister Gu to save you, but I can feel the aura on this cup of milk tea. The evil spirit that is in your body can be saved!”

“You can feel it?” Chu Ziheng lowered his head to look at the younger boy, curiosity in his eyes. Xiahou Qingyun nodded his head, and he muttered under his breath, “No wonder she got someone to get you out.”

“What did you say, Big Brother?”

Chu Ziheng came back to his senses, and he rubbed the boy’s head. “Nothing, the person who’s picking you up is here. When you have another day off again, I’ll come and find you.”

“Okay, bye, Big Brother.” Xiahou Qingyun waved to Chu Ziheng, and walked towards the black car nearby.

After Xiahou Qingyun left, Chu Ziheng’s secretary appeared silently beside him, handing him a thick stack of documents. “President Chu, we were looking in the wrong place yesterday night.”

Chu Ziheng took the papers with a disinterested look on his face, flipping through a few pages. Shock appeared on his face when he read the words, and this was the first time in his life that another expression apart from his usual gentleness appeared on his face.

“President Chu, this is everything that I found on the internet. I have checked, and these are all true. Miss Gu isn’t someone simple.” The secretary sighed deeply. When he was compiling the information, he also had some serious doubts about everything that he was reading. How can a person reach this level?

Chu Ziheng was silent for a while, flipping through the documents with a more solemn look.

Nothing more was said after that.

***

Gu Xiqiao took Hua Youlin and Luo Wenlin with her towards the intersection, where Jiang Shuxuan was already waiting for them. The man had already arrived earlier, and was leaning against the car, cigarette in hand. His head was hung slightly, as though in deep thought. The smoke was obscuring Gu Xiqiao’s view of his face, and she couldn’t see what expression was on it.

When he caught sight of Gu Xiqiao approaching, he snuffed out the cigarette immediately. He knew that she didn’t like the smell of it.

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“Get on.” Jiang Shuxuan opened the backseat door for them, his deep eyes on Hua Youlin and Luo Wenlin who were behind her.

Luo Wenlin didn’t know why, but every time he saw Jiang Shuxuan, he could feel a chill when the others looked at him. He didn’t dare to say a word as he climbed into the back seat of the car.

2

Hua Youlin was no longer afraid of Jiang Shuxuan, he already learned a method, which was to hide behind Gu Xiqiao if he did anything wrong.

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In short, he had found a really good backer.

“Brother Jiang, you’re back!” Hua Youlin exclaimed, smiling at him.

Jiang Shuxuan’s face eased and soften very slightly, and he was going to lower his head to say something to Hua Youlin, but then his eye caught sight of the business card that Gu Xiqiao was holding in her hand.

An eyebrow raised at that. “Go get in the car first,” He said, looking down at Hua Youlin.

The boy didn’t respond, but he headed towards the car and went into the backseat.

“What is this?” Jiang Shuxuan walked to Gu Xiqiao’s side, looking at the card in her hand.

She raised her hand, her eyes narrowing as she looked ahead. “Brother Jiang, something’s not right here.”

Jiang Shuxuan reached out to grasp the card, and replied, “I know, Yi Bing and the others are investigating this matter at the moment.”

There was such a wide area covered in malicious aura, if they didn’t find the source, they wouldn’t know how to proceed.

“It’s too late.” Gu Xiqiao sighed. “When I was walking here, I found that someone had arranged a wide area formation here, Brother Jiang. If it’s completed, it will affect the fortune of the entire China, and I don’t know how many will die from it.”

Hearing her words, Jiang Shuxuan stared at her, his lips pursed. A chilling cold glint entered his eyes.

“Brother Jiang,” Gu Xiqiao called out again, when he didn’t say anything.

He reached out and held her hand, closing his eyes. He extended his mental powers out to every corner around him. “The evil spirit isn’t strong or dense, but it’s still enough to affect a regular person. However, there are no incidents within ten miles of us.”

“So it’s probably a test.” Gu Xiqiao thought of the group of gangsters that she had bumped into earlier.

“Yeah.” Jiang Shuxuan looked around.

Who was this person who had exerted so much effort just to test waters?

“Let’s get the kids back home first.” Gu Xiqiao took out a few pieces of jade stones, scattering them. The jades formed a weird arc, and disappeared once it hit the ground, as though it was never there to begin with.

At the same time, the malicious aura around the area was slowly being purified, with the place where the stones disappeared as the center.

Jiang Shuxuan opened the door for her, and she got in without further ado. Then he got in and drove away, glancing at the rearview mirror as they left.

***

At the same time, in the ancient martial arts world, Shu Chen had returned home with the butler. She made a beeline to the treasury of the family, starting to pick out items there. She wasn’t looking for anything in particular or good, just as long as it was the most expensive.

After a while, Butler Jiang came out with Shu Chen, a stack of items in his arms. The guard that was waiting outside held out his hands. “Madam, the elders are looking for you.”

“Take this and have someone make a coat from it.” Shu Chen took the white fox fur from the stack and handed it to Butler Jiang. “Use Qiao Qiao’s measurement. This spirit fox fur and the jade will look great on her fair skin. She’s such a beautiful child, she will definitely look amazing when she wears it.”

Butler Jiang calmly accepted the items. “What about that other fox fur?”

“There’s some defect on it, just put it in the warehouse.” Shu Chen shoved her hands into her coat, and followed the guard out.

The guard followed behind Shu Chen, but his eyes couldn’t help but stray towards the items in Butler Jiang’s hands. There had been a rumor in the ancient martial arts world that a seven-tailed spirit fox had been cursing havoc that year, and had been beheaded by the Jiang family. A seven-tailed spirit fox was already on par with the ancient martial arts world, and everything on its body was definitely a treasure.

Especially its skin, it was invulnerable to swords, guns, water, and even fire. Even if it weren’t for those functions, its color was very nice.

The guard had assumed that it had just been rumors, but looks like it was true after all.

The fox fur was precious, and he had heard Madam Jiang’s instructions. It was going to be made into a coat? Who was it for? The guard was shocked when he had heard it.

The Elders’ Association was not that far from the Jiang family house, and it just took a few steps before Shu Chen arrived.

In the hall, not only were there elders of the Jiang family present, Jiang Tong was also there.

When Jiang Tong saw her, her eyes shifted away, not daring to look at her. Shu Chen was not even bothered to spare her a glance.

The great elder waved his hand towards the guard, and the guard and Jiang Tong both left the room after bowing.

“Great Elder, you were looking for me?” Shu Chen bowed as she asked.

The great elder placed down the book in his hand, and with Shu Chen’s good eyesight, she could see that it was a Buddhist scripture. Although she wasn’t sure what it was that had such a great impact on these elders, seeing this, Shu Chen couldn’t help but be happy.

So, you also have days like this!

“Madam Jiang, I heard that Young Master Jiang has befriended a girl from the secular world?” The great elder was careful in choosing his words.

Shu Chen sat down in the chair to the left, picking up the cup of tea on the table that was still steaming hot. She blew lightly on the liquid, shooting back indifferently, “What of it?”

The tone caught the great elder off guard for a moment. “You’re clearly aware that the Jiang family is different from others.” Luckily that he had been chanting scriptures recently, otherwise he’d probably be pissed off by Shu Chen’s nonchalant attitude.

When had she become like this?

“The Jiang family?” Shu Chen glanced at the old man. “Great Elder, I hope you haven’t forgotten that our ancestors had washed the entire ancient martial arts world in blood before. Of course, everyone had thought that heaven’s will was not to be disobeyed, and they couldn’t even protect one woman, which caused the ire of our ancestors.”

“The Jiang family had always been at the beck and call of the entire ancient martial arts world, breaking their backs for them. And the ancient martial arts world? They couldn’t even remember or repay his goodness, pushing out a defenseless woman when heaven’s will came knocking on our doors.” Shu Chen slammed the cup down on the table with a loud ‘clunk’, shocking several elders present. “I don’t care what you do from now on, as long as you can accept and bear Shuxuan’s anger as the consequences.”

Shu Chen stood up once she had said her piece, reaching out to put on her coat that she had taken off when she first came in. “If there is nothing else, I need to go home.”

The elders of the Jiang family remained in their spot, frozen. They were unable to come back to themselves for a long while, Shu Chen’s words echoing in their mind. Jiang Shuxuan was the leader of the current generation of the Jiang family, and his talents far surpassed any of the previous heirs before him.

His talents and methods were beyond the skies, as well as harshly cold. If anyone were to offend him, the ancient martial arts world will probably be drowned in blood in a tragedy once again.

The elders glanced at each other, and the great elder picked up the scripture on the table, his eyes far away as he said, “Sure enough, no matter what house rules are made, the Jiang family will not be able to escape this curse.”

“The Jiang family heirs, if they weren’t alone up to their dying days, then they were so deeply in love.” Another elder sighed heavily. “I thought that with Jiang Tong’s existence, the Jiang family would finally turn this around. But I suppose a curse is still a curse in the end.”

“It isn’t like there is something that can turn this around…” The great elder raised his head suddenly, a ray of hope flashing in his eyes. “The Lisu Tribe, they’re the ones who know this the best.”

Saying that, the great elder got up and left in a hurry.

“Great Elder, are you going to look for the Lisu Tribe? Do I need to lend you a flying machine?” The second great elder shouted from behind him.

The great elder waved his hand without turning. “No need, I’m going to pick a fight with the Peace Squad. I’m feeling unhappy right now!”

All the other elders: “…” They really couldn’t tell that the great elder was actually such a masochist.

***

Walking out the hall of the Elders’ Association, Jiang Tong followed closely behind Shu Chen as she continued to walk.

“Madam Jiang.” Jiang Tong had been silent the entire way, and Shu Chen had not bothered with her from the start. Finally, when they reached the intersection, the younger girl opened her mouth to speak.

Shu Chen stopped and turned around slowly, chuckling lowly. “So, it’s you.”

1

“Madam Jiang, I know all about Young Master Jiang’s situation.” Jiang Tong bit her lip after saying that. She used to call Shu Chen ‘Aunt Jiang’, but she didn’t dare utter these two words after that incident.

“And?” Shu Chen raised an eyebrow, looking at Jiang Tong with a puzzled light in her eyes.

Jiang Tong took a deep breath. “I know the Miss Gu that you’re talking about. She’s just an illegitimate daughter of a second rate family in N City. She turned her family upside down after she was taken in, and her sister was even crippled after being sent abroad. Madam Jiang, you need to be cautious while dealing with her!”

2

Shu Chen’s eyes darkened. “How did you come across all this information?”

Seeing the displeasure in her eyes, Jiang Tong continued, “I know that you probably don’t want to see it, but Young Master Jiang has been deceived.” Jiang Tong knew that with her status as someone who had reached the sixty-second floor in the Trial Tower, even the elders were treating her with more courtesy than previously.

2

So she believed that no matter what feelings Shu Chen had for her, the older woman would still keep her words in mind.

“That’s enough.” Shu Chen’s eyes were deep and cold, and her voice was even more frosty. “Why is an outsider like you trying to intervene in our Jiang family matters?”

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Jiang Tong’s face paled dramatically, and her entire frame shook for a moment. She didn’t expect this reaction from Shu Chen. “M-M-Madam Jiang…”

She couldn’t bear the chilling gaze that Shu Chen was looking at her with, a hint of sarcasm under the steel tone of her voice.

Jiang Tong took a step back, her head hanging down in embarrassment. There were people passing by, looking at her strangely, presumably due to the words that Shu Chen had just uttered. The embarrassment she felt kept climbing higher and higher, and she fled the scene immediately.

Seeing Jiang Tong’s retreating figure, Shu Chen smiled faintly. Jiang Shuxuan was her son, and Gu Xiqiao was her daughter-in-law. Why was there a need for someone else to judge whether they were good for each other or not? Didn’t she have eyes of her own?

Thinking of this, she pulled out her phone, shooting a message off to Jiang Shuxuan.

***

Jiang Shuxuan, who had just reached home, pulled out his phone to look at the message. He stopped in his steps, staring at the screen.

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